


Rooftop Romance

by Oldguybones



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: All the losers work at a restaurant together, Fluffy, M/M, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:49:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24377533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oldguybones/pseuds/Oldguybones
Summary: “Uh oh, looks like someone’s got a cruuuuush!”The sing-song tone in his friend’s voice cut him right out of his daydream. Eddie had been staring across the restaurant at their newest busboy. A tall, pale man who looked to be around the same age as them; his hair was dark, with the slightest curl to it and his eyes were the color of a beautiful, endless ocean. Eddie could hardly stare into them for a second without risking the possibility of getting swept out to sea. He did the worst impressions and told the most idiotic jokes, but it was too late. Just a mere few weeks in and Eddie was already smitten.He was trying desperately to hide it. Richie, however, was not making it easy. At all.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 4
Kudos: 102





	Rooftop Romance

“Uh oh, looks like someone’s got a cruuuuush!”

The sing-song tone in his friend’s voice cut him right out of his daydream. Eddie had been staring across the restaurant at their newest busboy. A tall, pale man who looked to be around the same age as them; his hair was dark, with the slightest curl to it and his eyes were the color of a beautiful, endless ocean. Eddie could hardly stare into them for a second without risking the possibility of getting swept out to sea. He did the worst impressions and told the most idiotic jokes, but it was too late. Just a mere few weeks in and Eddie was already smitten. 

He was trying desperately to hide it. Richie, however, was not making it easy. At all. 

Bev was leaning against the counter, her gaze bouncing back and forth between Eddie’s face and where his attention fell, on Richie as he cleared a table. 

“I do not,” Eddie denied, though it was somewhat futile. He didn’t possess any real conviction behind his words and he was positive that Bev could see right through him. For the entirety of the time Eddie had known her, she proved to be extremely intuitive, almost annoyingly so. If she got any kind of actual confirmation that he had a crush on their new busboy, he would never hear the end of it. 

At that moment, Richie tossed his used rag into the tub of dirty dishes he carried on his hip. When he stood back up, he noticed both Bev and Eddie staring at him. Bev gave him a little wave; Eddie remained completely still.

And Richie...well, Richie stared directly at him and winked, his lips curving into a huge, shit eating grin as he walked off towards the kitchen. With that display, coupled with the fact that no one else got that same level of affection from him, it was hard to insist there was nothing between them. They,  _ at the very least _ , had some strong chemistry. 

“Besides, the boss doesn’t tolerate fraternization.”

Bev playfully rolled her eyes, “Oh c’mon. No one listens to that rule,” she insisted. “Ben and I have been dating for almost two years and we’ve never gotten in trouble.  _ And  _ he’s a manager, too. So I’m sure you could manage. Stan, Mike, and Bill do just fine and I’m pretty sure they’re all dating each other.”

Eddie snickered, “They’re literally so obvious.” 

“Exactly!” Bev exclaimed, lightly smacking the back of her hand against his arm. “So if they can do it, so can you!”

“Alright, alright,” Eddie relented with a chuckle, “I will keep that in mind.”

But little did Bev know, Eddie had already agreed to go on a date with Richie. After weeks of playful flirting and multiple date invites, Eddie finally relaxed his no dating co-workers rule; he surrendered to the overwhelming curiosity of wondering where this could go. 

So he allowed himself one date. One small opportunity to see what would happen if they indulged beyond the clandestine flirting. Richie was cute and funny, though he preferred to keep that to himself because modesty didn't necessarily fall in his list of traits. Maybe that was another pro in his column; he had more confidence than most people he'd met. 

Eddie found that evening that it was rather fun to work with someone of romantic interest. Both him and Richie worked the closing shift, planning to go out afterwards. But the evening leading up to that was filled with shared, knowing glances and flirtatious words whenever they had a moment to speak in passing. 

Each interaction made his heart race and his excitement for their date later grew exponentially with each beat.

Never better had Eddie been so grateful for the lack of customers around closing time; there always seemed to be at least a few hanging around well beyond their welcome. But not today. For once, no one lingered past closing. In fact, no one had come into the restaurant for the last hour. So he had plenty of time to do all his closing duties ahead of time. With all the extra time saved, he figured he could make it back to his apartment to change into something more suitable for a date. 

After they locked the doors, Eddie set off to find Richie and ask him where they were meeting up. But Richie was nowhere to be found. He popped his head into the kitchen where Bill and Mike were finishing their clean up. 

“Hey, have you guys seen Richie?” he asked in a way that he hoped sounded casual. 

Judging based off of the grins on their faces, he was unsuccessful. Mike and Bill shared a glance, then simultaneously shook their heads. Eddie’s eyes narrowed suspiciously while the two of them tried to keep a straight face. Again, unsuccessful. 

"Okay, you weirdos," Eddie muttered playfully under his breath, turning to wander back towards the front of the restaurant. He found Stan standing at the host podium, idly tidying the menus. 

"What are you still doing here?" He questioned, frowning in confusion. "I feel like Ben could've let you go a long time ago."

Stan spun around, wearing a smug smile. "I just have one more thing I need to take care of first. I could actually really use your help with it."

"Okay," Eddie responded slowly and followed after Stan as he walked them towards the rear exit. "Uhhhh, where exactly are we going, Stan?" The confusion only grew when Stan ducked his head to climb onto the fire escape. 

"Just trust me, okay?" Stan insisted with a chuckle, climbing the multiple levels until they got to the roof. 

When Eddie finally made it up there, he was greeted by the sudden illumination of soft lights strung overhead. In the center of the roof was a single table, set identical to those in the restaurant below them. Beside it, Richie stood. He had changed out of his dirty white t-shirt and swapped it out for a dark button up; clutched in his grip was a small bouquet of flowers. 

"Let me show you to your table."

Eddie laughed breathlessly, almost rendered speechless by the sight before him. "I think I got it, Stan. Thank you."

He walked over to the table and up to Richie. "Hi," he said, his cheeks flushed pink and he couldn't keep the dopey smile off of his face. "This is...you did all this for me?"

"A little birdy told me that you were quite the romantic," Richie replied, also wearing an ear to ear grin. 

As if on cue, Bev popped onto the roof, carrying a couple of their take out containers as well as a bottle of champagne. 

Eddie glanced over at her and suddenly it all made sense. He took the flowers that Richie handed to him, bringing them up to his face to take in their scent. "My favorite."

"I know. I had a lot of help," Richie smiled, pulling out Eddie's chair for him before sitting down himself. "I tried to bribe everyone to stay late and help. They must really like you because it wasn't hard at all. Not a single one of them took the bribe."

Eddie smiled fondly up at Bev as she set their food down in front of them. She then expertly popped the champagne, pouring them each a glass before setting the bottle down in the middle of the table. "I know. They're all pretty great."

Richie held up his glass and tilted it towards Eddie's. "A toast," he said as they gently clinked their glasses together. "To working with some really cool people. Cheers."

"Cheers," Eddie repeated genuinely, taking a small sip. "So what are we having this evening?" He wondered aloud as he popped the container in front of him open. 

"It's your favorite," Richie answered, a significant amount of pride evident in his voice. 

Eddie gasped, "This is definitely not on our menu."

"Turns out Bill and Mike were eager to try something a little more complex than a burger and fries," Richie laughed, digging into his own container. 

“Yeah, I believe that,” Eddie chuckled and twirled some of the pasta onto his fork. “So where are you from?”

“California originally,” Richie responded as he took a bite. “Spent most of my childhood here and then we moved to Maine because my dad got a job opportunity out there. I ended up moving back to California for a few years trying to make it as a stand up comedian and obviously that didn’t work out too well. And that brings us to now.”

Eddie continued to eat as he listened to Richie talk. He took a sip of champagne to wash it down. “Okay, then tell me your best joke.”

“What?” Richie asked in a laugh.

“You said you were a comedian,” Eddie replied smugly behind his glass, “So prove it.”

“I distinctly remember saying that I  _ failed  _ as a comedian,” Richie corrected, using his napkin to wipe his mouth before leaning in to continue. “Alright, a guy is late for a really important meeting. But life is kinda itself so he can’t find a parking spot. He’s desperate. This meeting could make or break his entire career so he decides to pray. He says, ‘Lord, please, if you help me find a parking spot right now, I promise to go to church every Sunday and I’ll quit drinking for good!’ A moment later, he sees an empty spot right next to the entrance of the parking lot. And says, ‘Nevermind! Found one!’.” 

Eddie’s hand flew up to his mouth as he snorted. “Oh my god, that was so dumb,” he said, his continued laughter contradicting his words.

Richie laughed as well, mostly because Eddie’s was downright contagious. “Hey, I warned you.”

They spend the rest of the dinner asking standard first date questions and getting to know each other. After devouring dinner and working through an entire bottle of champagne, the two of them shared a slice of cheesecake for dinner, another one of Eddie’s favorites.

“You know,” Eddie began as he scooped a bite onto his fork, “I’m impressed. You really did your research for this date. I didn’t expect much.”

Richie clutched his chest in a playfully mocking way. “Ooof, Eds, you wound me.”

Eddie playfully rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he chuckled, “I just...I’ve had a good number of dates with over confident flirts like you. I guess I assumed you’d be just like the rest of them. But obviously, I was wrong.” He reached over the table to grab Richie’s hand, stroking his thumb over his knuckles. “And I’m really glad I was.”

Richie smiled and gave Eddie’s hand a squeeze. “So am I. Now if you’re ready, I’d like to move onto phase two of the date.” With that, Richie stood from his chair and still holding onto Eddie’s hand to guide him out of his chair. 

“There’s a phase two?” Eddie questioned, stumbling a little as he followed after Richie. “What’s phase two?”

Rather than respond, Richie pulled him across the roof where there was a white sheet pinned up to the side of the wall. Directly across from it was a projector and below that was a comfy looking mess of blankets and pillows, precisely fit for two people. 

“C’mon, we’re almost late,” Richie joked, gesturing invitingly to the pile of blankets. 

The joke elicited a soft chuckle from Eddie as he sat down. 

“May I?” Richie asked, pointing to the open spot beside Eddie. “I can always go pull up a chair instead.”

Eddie leaned up to grab Richie’s hand, using it to pull him down onto the blankets. His landing was a little shaky which caused him to accidentally fall into Eddie a little. He tried to brush it off with an apology and by moving away, but instead, Eddie’s hand clutched the front of his shirt and pulled him in closer. Their lips pressed together in a chaste, soft kiss. 

Eddie pulled away from him with wide eyes and still parted lips. The one kiss sent an electric shock throughout his body; he felt more than he had in years. 

A few moments passed and Richie scoffed teasingly, “Please, Eddie. I’m trying to watch the film.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, leaning in to kiss Richie for a second time. This one lasted longer, their lips moving together in a slow, gentle rhythm. It made stars erupt behind Eddie’s closed eyes. Afterwards, he pulled away slightly breathless, cheeks flushing bright pink. 

“So what movie are we watching?” Eddie asked, sitting back against the pillows and smiling when Richie not so casually yawned to hide the way his arm draped over his shoulders. He knew exactly what Richie’s answer would be; he’d suavely inform Eddie that they were watching his favorite movie, aligning with the night’s theme. One of his friends probably informed Richie that his favorite movie was-

“We’re watching my favorite movie,” Richie informed him with a playful smirk. He must’ve been able to decipher the surprised look on Eddie’s face because he added, teasingly, “Gosh, Eds, not everything is about you! Selfish, much?”

Eddie scoffed and shoved at Richie’s arm, causing him to topple over to the side as he laughed. Eventually, he stopped and sat back up. "I like you, Eds."

Eddie's lips curved up into a fond smile. "I like you too, Richie."

And the two of them shared another kiss. And then another and another. And then, a lifetime more. 


End file.
